Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 release date, price, features, and news
While the Apple Watch is the undisputed best-seller on the smartwatch market, the best alternatives have always came straight from Samsung's factories. Indeed, last year Apple held 30% of the market, while Samsung held a 10% share, a figure that was definitely heavily influenced by the Wear OS-powered Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic.
Now, the Galaxy Watch 5 is coming very soon, possibly alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 in August, and seems like a modest upgrade over the Galaxy Watch 4 from last year.
This article will be continuously updated with all the new Galaxy Watch 5 leaks and rumors that come to light.
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Latest Galaxy Watch 5 news
- Galaxy Watch 5 renders get revealed
- Galaxy Watch 5 UI leaks out
- Big Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 upgrade over Watch 4 confirmed in new regulatory docs
- Leaker says Galaxy Watch 5 could be the "ugliest" smartwatch of the year
- Here are Samsung's current Galaxy Z Fold 4, Z Flip 4, and Galaxy Watch 5 launch plans and colors
- Evidence of Galaxy Watch 5 thermometer feature shows up in Samsung Health app
Galaxy Watch 5 release date
Judging from multiple rumors, as well as deducing from Samsung's last year's release windows, we should expect the Galaxy Watch 5 to be announced sometime in early August and get released not long after, presumably by the month's end.
FrontPageTech's Jon Prosser has it that the actual dates for the Galaxy Watch 5 announcement and subsequent release are as follows: the Galaxy Watch 5 will likely be announced at a Galaxy Unpacked event on August 10, 2022 at a dedicated Galaxy Unpacked and will be available for pre-order right away. The wearable will be released on the market on August 26, 2022.
| Device family | Announcement | Market release |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy Watch | August 9, 2018 | August 24, 2018 |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 | August 5, 2020 | August 5, 2020 |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 | August 11, 2021 | August 27, 2021 |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 | August 10, 2022* | August 26, 2022* |
Galaxy Watch 5 price
No concrete leaks yet, but as usual, we don't expect Samsung to greatly diverge from its usual pricing policy.
The Galaxy Watch 4 started at $249, and that's the ballpark pricing we expect for the Galaxy Watch 5, too. Mind you, the more premium Galaxy Watch 4 Classic started at $349.
The Galaxy Watch 4 started at $249, and that's the ballpark pricing we expect for the Galaxy Watch 5, too. Mind you, the more premium Galaxy Watch 4 Classic started at $349.
So, when it comes to the Galaxy Watch 5 and its version, we should expect the most affordable wearable to start at $249, while the easiest go get premium model will likely cost $349 at launch.
Galaxy Watch 5 name
So far, we expect three version of the Galaxy Watch 5: a regular Galaxy Watch 5 in two different sizes, possibly 40mm and 42mm, and then an extra large 46mm version, called the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.
Galaxy Watch 5 design and display
We expect Samsung to announce two wearables: the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The Galaxy Watch 5 will reportedly be available in 40mm and 44mm versions, while the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will only be available in a single 45mm version. All smartwatches will reportedly feature sapphire glass up front, which would seriously improve the scratch resistance (especially in comparison with Gorilla Glass DX), while the water resistance will be 5ATM on all watches.
The Galaxy Watch 5 will closely follow the Galaxy Watch 4 in terms of general design, but it seems that the rotating bezel of the premium Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will be getting axed in favor of a digital bezel. This one will be an indented capacitive bezel around the display that reportedly emulates the hardware rotating bezel. There's speculation that this indentation is utilized for better finger accuracy, but it remains to be seen if hardcore Galaxy Watch fans will be hyped about this drastic design change.
It is believed to contain a 572mAh battery, which is 60% bigger than that of the larger Galaxy Watch 4. Such a large battery unit will inevitably increase the overall size of the wearable by a lot, but it wouldn't feature a rotating bezel like previous generations, which will be sorely missed by many. Hopefully, those rather large bezels would feature capacitive touch for interface navigation.
- 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R900
- 44mm Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R910
- 45mm Galaxy Watch 5 Pro SM-R920 with digital bezel
Colors-wise, we could see phantom black and silver paint paint jobs, with the compact Galaxy Watch 5 also expected to be available in pink gold and the big non-Pro device appearing in a third color choice branded "Sapphire" and characterized as sort of "blueish."
Here's the full scoop:
- Galaxy Watch 5 40mm: Graphite, Silver, Pink Gold, Sapphire
- Galaxy Watch 5 44mm: Graphite, Silver, Pink Gold, Sapphire
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro 45mm: Black, Gray Titanium
Galaxy Watch 5 battery
Battery life seems like it will get a huge boost on the Galaxy Watch 5 family. According to multiple sources and leaks, we will be getting larger batteries all across the board, with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro beating just about any expectation we initially had.
Here are the leaked Galaxy Watch 5 family battery sizes:
- Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R900 - 276mAh (vs 247mAh on Galaxy Watch 4 40mm)
- Galaxy Watch 5 SM-R910 - 400mAh (vs 361mAh Galaxy Watch 4 44mm)
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro SM-R920 - 572mAh
As you can see, the difference in battery capacity is astonishing, especially considering the difference with the previous generation. Why use such large batteries? Simple - Wear OS goes a bit hard on resources, so having a larger battery to ensure good passable battery life is more than essential.
Galaxy Watch 5 features and software
When it comes to hardware, we don't have any concrete info on either the chipset or RAM of the Galaxy Watch 5.
Aside from having an ECG, an always-on heart-rate monitor, and possibly a BMI sensor to analyze your body structure, the Galaxy Watch 5 will be scoring a thermometer for body temperature. Multiple other watches have such a feature, namely the Huawei Watch GT3, Garmin wearables, and multiple other dedicated smartwatches.
Should I wait for the Galaxy Watch 5?
- You should wait for the Galaxy Watch 5/5 Pro if you're willing to give Wear OS a try. You should also probably patiently wait for it if you've been using an older Galaxy Watch and wish to stay in the ecosystem, but get the latest and greatest smartwatch Samsung will have in tow.
- You should not wait for Galaxy Watch 5/5 Pro if you've been using the Galaxy Watch 4 and are satisfied with its performance and battery life. You probably shouldn't be considering the Galaxy Watch 5 if you have an iPhone, since the chances of it working with Apple's phones is minimal.
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